The present invention relates to a vehicle washing apparatus and in particular to a vehicle washing apparatus employing both brushes and spray nozzles for selective cleaning of different portions of the vehicle.
It is common for a vehicle wash apparatus to include moving or rotating brushes which physically contact the surface of a vehicle being washed to remove dirt and debris therefrom. However, certain materials used in vehicles are susceptible to damage from the brush bristles or from the action of the brush bristles carrying dirt and other debris across the vehicle surface. One application where the brushes cause damage is with vehicle windows made of plastic such as DuPont Lucite or General Electric Lexan. These materials are commonly used as windows for buses.
One solution to the problem of brush induced damage is to use high pressure water spray nozzles to remove dirt as opposed to using the brushes. However, water spray nozzles mounted in a fixed position in a wash apparatus are not as effective in cleaning a vehicle as are brushes. This is due to the fact that the distance between a fixed water nozzle and a vehicle surface varies with the vehicle size and shape.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle wash apparatus which effectively cleans the vehicle in a manner which does not damage delicate materials.
It is a feature of the present invention that high pressure water nozzles are used to spray the delicate surface materials while brushes are used to clean other surfaces not susceptible to damage. In order to maintain the spray nozzles in the optimum position relative to the vehicle surface, the spray nozzles are mounted to the booms carrying the brushes which are moved into contact with the vehicle and then follow the contours of the vehicle. In a preferred embodiment for cleaning buses, which typically have a number of windows along the top half of the side wall, the wash apparatus is equipped with brushes to clean the lower half of the bus side wall and with spray nozzles mounted to the brush booms above the brushes for cleaning the windows along the upper half of the bus side wall.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.